(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22. transport routes
passing through Azerbaijan at the moment are more attractive than
ever before, as the country creates all conditions to ensure safe
transit as soon as possible. Azerbaijan's modern transport
infrastructure, both rail and automobile, and maritime, saves money
and time. Not surprisingly, the volume of cargo transit through
Azerbaijan in 2022 increased by more than 75 percent
year-on-year.
However, Azerbaijan does not plan to stop there and takes
measures to further increase its transport potential, given the
growing demand for alternative routes.
Currently, the International North-South Transport Corridor is a
hot topic on the global agenda. This corridor runs from Russia
through Azerbaijan and from Iran to India. It is a mix of rail,
road and sea transport aimed at optimizing trade between the start
and end points of the route.
The North-South Corridor is a multimodal route with a length of
7,200 kilometers. This alternative route links Europe, the
countries of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean through the Suez
Canal. The Western and Eastern routes of the corridor pass through
Iran: the Western route provides transportation through Iran by
road through Rasht checkpoint, and the Eastern one – by rail. The
final destination in Iran is the port of Bandar Abbas, from which
goods can be delivered to India by sea. The Western route also
passes through Azerbaijan, while the Eastern one – through
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In addition, direct sea transportation
from Russia via the Caspian Sea to Iran is possible.
By 2030, the volume of cargo along the North-South Corridor is
expected to almost double, from the current 17 million to 32
million tons per year.
Just yesterday, officials from Russia, Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan announced that a joint venture will be created between
these countries. The purpose of this JV is to create a single
logistics operator on the Eastern Route of the North-South
Corridor.
The Eastern Route passes through the border between Iran and
Turkmenistan – via Ak-Yayla or Sarakhs checkpoints. Hereby, the
cargo is moved by rail to Kazakhstan, and then to Russia. The
shortest option runs through the Ak-Yayla checkpoint.
The Ak-Yayla checkpoint, although, is considered to be shorter,
it is still over 2,500 kilometers long. Thus, the route turns out
to be less attractive, given that the ultimate goal is to reduce
costs and transit time.
When a joint venture between Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
is created, it will certainly contribute to reducing transportation
costs and faster movement along the corridor. However, to establish
such a structure it will obviously take a lot of time, since there
are still bureaucratic barriers and red tape that will hold back
the process.
At the same time, the 1,450-kilometers long Western Route is,
perhaps, the most widely exploited and well-developed one. Even the
statistics prove that, from January 1 through March 28, 2023, the
volume of transit of goods along the Western route totaled 2.15
million tons, which is a staggering increase of 84.37 percent
year-on-year (1.16 million tons transported in 2022). There is only
one obstacle that delays the operation of the route at full
capacity - 164-kilometers long Rasht-Astara railway line. However,
the agreement between Iran and Russia on the construction of this
line is expected to be signed by May 21, 2023. Thus, the Western
Route of the North-South Corridor will become fully
operational.
In the current complex, rapidly changing world, Azerbaijan,
being on the crossroads between East and West, becomes more and
more attractive destination. Since, beside the North-South
Corridor, Azerbaijan has also boosted the transitional capacities
of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, well-known as
the Middle Corridor. Basically, Azerbaijan has provided
incomparable conditions for the fastest, cheapest and most
convenient transportation of goods. Due to enormous effort put in
the modernization of transport and logistics infrastructure, the
country will maintain its key transport role despite any regional
or global geopolitical upheaval.